{"id":1663,"date":"2013-08-06T10:44:24","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T14:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2025-07-02T15:06:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T19:06:30","slug":"foundational-support-for-suter-science-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2013\/08\/06\/foundational-support-for-suter-science-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Richmond foundations support Suter Science renovation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

As co-directors of The Burford Leimenstoll Foundation, wealth management expert W. Bates Chappell (left) and attorney Bruce L. Mertens strive to uphold the wishes and priorities expressed by its founder, Betty Sams Christian.<\/p><\/div>\n

Foundations based in central Virginia will be contributing a combined total of $300,000, assuming that matching funds are raised in some cases, toward renovating EMU\u2019s Suter Science Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support of respected foundations in the Commonwealth of Virginia testifies to the Suter Science Center\u2019s 45 years of preparing graduates who proceed to become service-oriented professionals in health care and other scientific disciplines,\u201d said EMU President Loren Swartzendruber. \u201cIt is our goal to continue meeting critical needs throughout the Commonwealth and beyond by cultivating ‘servant-leaders.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The Burford Leimenstoll Foundation is an example of one foundation supporting the upgrading of the Suter Science Center. This foundation typically supports social welfare efforts, as well as cultural and educational initiatives, ranging from the Frontier Culture Museum near Staunton to the International Emerging Leadership program of Collegiate School in Richmond.<\/p>\n

The Burford Leimenstoll Foundation also confers some grants for initiatives in health and higher education, as exemplified by its endowed sponsorship of the Betty Sams Christian Child Health Advocacy Program at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital.<\/p>\n

This foundation was founded in 1991 by Betty Sams Christian, nine years into her 21-year leadership of the Central Coca-Cola Bottling Company, overseeing franchises in Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. By the time she retired from being president and CEO in 2003, her company was the ninth-largest independent Coke bottler in the United States.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Christian was born Staunton, the city immediately south of Harrisonburg on I-81, and earned her bachelor\u2019s degree further south in the Shenandoah Valley at what is now Hollins University. After majoring in a challenging scientific field (physics), Christian pursued her concern for people\u2019s well-being by going to New York City to earn a master\u2019s of social wo<\/a>rk degree at Columbia University.<\/p>\n

Today her foundation is co-directed by W. Bates Chappell, managing director of Kanawha Capital in Richmond (Va.), where he specializes in wealth preservation and investment management, and by Bruce L. Mertens, a partner in the Richmond branch of the 70-attorney firm Sands Anderson PC, where he practices estate planning and administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have continued to support the charities to which the founder [of the Burford Leimenstoll Foundation] made grants in her lifetime,\u201d Chappell told the Crossroads<\/em> editor. Mertens nodded his agreement with these words, adding, \u201cBetty was very concerned about social issues and the welfare of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before her death in 2006, Christian chose to contribute, through her foundation, to EMU\u2019s annual fund, known as the University Fund. Chappell and Mertens therefore feel confident that she would wish them to continue supporting efforts by EMU to develop \u201cservant-leaders\u201d in healthcare, education, social work, counseling and other fields beneficial to humankind.<\/p>\n

Other foundations supporting this capital campaign through challenge grants \u2013 in which they pledge to match funds in a specific ratio contributed by private donors \u2013 include The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation and The Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation, both headquartered in Richmond. \u201cWe want to help EMU leverage the private funds they must raise to complete this capital project,\u201d explained the executive director of one foundation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2013 Bonnie Price Lofton<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foundations based in central Virginia will be contributing a combined total of $300,000, assuming that matching funds are raised in some cases, toward renovating EMU\u2019s Suter Science Center. \u201cThe support of respected foundations in the Commonwealth of Virginia testifies to the Suter Science Center\u2019s 45 years of preparing graduates who proceed to become service-oriented professionals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":1664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[409,408],"class_list":["post-1663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","tag-bruce-l-mertens","tag-w-bates-chappell","issues-summer-2013"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4947,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663\/revisions\/4947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}